Bridget Riley b. 1931
Painter of Op art in oils, acrylic and gouache; printmaker. She studied at Goldsmiths’ College of Art under Sam Rabin from 1949 – 52, and at the RCA from 1952-5, where contemporaries included Dick Smith, Peter Blake, Joe Tilson and John Bratby. In 1959 she attended Thubron’s summer school under Maurice de Sausmarez. She has traveled extensively in Britain, Europe, India and the Far East, making an important visit to Egypt in 1981. Since 1961 she has worked partly in Vaucluse, France. She exhibited at Gallery 1, London in 1962 and 1963, and from 1969 at the Rowan Gallery. From 1965 she has shown regularly in America and internationally, and in 1970-1 there was a major European traveling retrospective of her work. Retrospectives in the UK include the Hayward Gallery in 1971 & again in 2019, the Whitworth Art Gallery in 1973, Tate Britain in 2003, Paintings and Related Work was presented at the National Gallery 2010-11, London and in 2019-20 a retrospective was held at the Scottish National Gallery in conjunction with the Hayward. Her work is represented in numerous public collections including the Tate Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. New York.
From 1959-1961 she taught at Loughborough College of Art, in 1960 at Hornsey College of Art and from 1962 to 1964 at Croydon College of Art.
Her many awards include the Grand Prize for Painting, Venice Biennale 1968, and a CBE in 1972. A Trustee of the Tate Gallery since 1981, her work has included decorations for the Royal Liverpool Hospital in 1983, and designs for Colour Moves, Ballet Rambert, 1983. ... read more
Painter of Op art in oils, acrylic and gouache; printmaker. She studied at Goldsmiths’ College of Art under Sam Rabin from 1949 – 52, and at the RCA from 1952-5, where contemporaries included Dick Smith, Peter Blake, Joe Tilson and John Bratby. In 1959 she attended Thubron’s summer school under Maurice de Sausmarez. She has traveled extensively in Britain, Europe, India and the Far East, making an important visit to Egypt in 1981. Since 1961 she has worked partly in Vaucluse, France. She exhibited at Gallery 1, London in 1962 and 1963, and from 1969 at the Rowan Gallery. From 1965 she has shown regularly in America and internationally, and in 1970-1 there was a major European traveling retrospective of her work. Retrospectives in the UK include the Hayward Gallery in 1971 & again in 2019, the Whitworth Art Gallery in 1973, Tate Britain in 2003, Paintings and Related Work was presented at the National Gallery 2010-11, London and in 2019-20 a retrospective was held at the Scottish National Gallery in conjunction with the Hayward. Her work is represented in numerous public collections including the Tate Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. New York.
From 1959-1961 she taught at Loughborough College of Art, in 1960 at Hornsey College of Art and from 1962 to 1964 at Croydon College of Art.
Her many awards include the Grand Prize for Painting, Venice Biennale 1968, and a CBE in 1972. A Trustee of the Tate Gallery since 1981, her work has included decorations for the Royal Liverpool Hospital in 1983, and designs for Colour Moves, Ballet Rambert, 1983.
A pioneer of Op art, she limited her painting to black and white in the early 1960s, covering the canvas with simple forms that underwent modulations in order to give a sense of movement and space. She gradually introduced tonal variations and, in 1966, colour. Using groups of colours, she concentrated on a form, which would liberate fugitive colour with the minimum of distraction e.g. stripes of colour. After her Egyptian visit she executed a series inspired by the unblended earth colours of the tomb paintings. Her later work became warmer, the formal elements more variable and the control of fugitive colour more apparent. The anonymous handling of paint by assistants allows the true subject of the work (perception and the sensation of seeing) to remain unhindered by extraneous allusions.
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